


A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Kiss Me

by ErosRose



Category: Riverdale - Fandom
Genre: Drama, F/F, F/M, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 13:23:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9899063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErosRose/pseuds/ErosRose
Summary: 'Where once your mouth held a nervous yet excited smile there was now a wobbling lip, and where once your eyes were bright and eager you now felt the tell-tale signs of tears pricking behind them. You wanted to run back upstairs into your bedroom, untie your hair and wipe of your make-up, you felt foolish.'Inspired by the Fall Out Boy song "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Kiss Me", I suggest listening to the song if you don't already know it to get a brief summary of this fic.





	1. Chapter 1

‘Betty, you know why I don’t want to go.’ You sighed, swirling your candy-striped straw around the empty milkshake glass.

The winter formal dance was quickly approaching and both Betty and Veronica were trying their _damn_ hardest to get you to go. It was okay for those two they were going with who they wanted to go with, each other. They’d offered to squeeze you in and all three of you could go together as _friends_ , but you knew better than to think the two girls wouldn’t be making heart eyes at each other all night.

You’d had quite a number of guys come up to you during school to ask if you’d consider going with them and of course you were flattered but you were holding out for some kind of miracle. A miracle you knew just wasn’t going to happen, Jughead Jones would never be asking you to the dance.

‘If you’re gonna just keep holding out for him maybe _you_ should ask _him_?’ Betty suggested with a hopeful twinkle in her eye.

‘Yeah, this is 2016 Mona! Girl power and all that jazz!’ Added Veronica with sultry toned voice, she leant her head on Betty’s shoulder and both girls smiled at you.

You groaned and closed your eyes.

Your feelings for Jughead Jones were no secret to the Riverdale community. The pair of you met as kindred spirits; pushed together by the hands of fate in a Chemistry class as lab partners. From the moment you met you bonded over your similarities: you both shared the same sense of humour, you were both artistic in your own ways, and you both had a lot of baggage.

But you weren’t nearly as closed off as Jug, it only took two months after meeting Betty for you to pour your heart out to her one night at Pop’s and it only took four months to admit to her than you were smitten with your raven-haired friend. And you knew Jug had an inkling towards how you felt; you had tried to flirt with him in the early stages of your infatuation only to be met with a brick wall. You quickly learned that the path in front of you had two roads and they were: to stick with Jughead as his friend but possibly be cursed with heartache for all your days of friendship, or to turn away from Jughead and move on.

A life with Jughead Jones was better than one without, you concluded.

‘B-’ you looked towards Betty, ‘V-’ you looked towards Veronica, ‘this isn’t one of your cheesy movies where the guy realises he’s been in love with best friend the whole time and has just been too stupid to realise it.’ You sighed, ‘I wish it was guys, I do, but it’s not and I’m okay with that. Jug is never gonna be that guy.’

‘Jug’s never gonna be what guy?’

 _Speak of the devil and he will come,_ you thought as you nearly literally jumped out of your skin.

Jughead Jones climbed his way over the back of the booth and slid down into the corner next to you, he stole a fry from your basket as he looked at you expectantly. You looked towards Betty and Veronica hoping the panic your eyes was subtle enough that Jug wouldn’t notice it.

‘Oh- we’re just talking about the dance-’ Betty began.

‘-Yeah, we’re just saying how Mona isn’t going-’ Veronica continued looking at Betty, you could almost see the telepathic messages passing between the two girls.

‘-But she really wants too!’ The girls continued to finish each other’s sentences.

‘But all the eligible bachelors are taken that we could think of, we we’re just brainstorming people that M could go with.’

‘Yeah,’ you interrupted, ‘and that’s when Betty suggested you and I was going to say that you’d never be the guy caught a cheesy high school dance.’ Your heart was fluttering against your chest in rapid motions as you quickly reached to your conclusion, you flashed a force smile at Jug.

His face suggested that he didn’t quite buy the story, he raised his eyebrow at Betty and Veronica who offered him their best convincing smiles before he turned to you.

His arm was stretched along the back of the booth, almost around your shoulders. You turned your body to look at him, his brows were knitted together and his mouth was in a straight line, he looked almost annoyed.

He sighed.

‘So you want to go to the dance?’ He asked.

You pushed your glasses up to the bridge of your nose. ‘I mean I guess, yeah, it would be nice to do normal teenage things for once-’

‘I _mean_ -‘ He interrupted, ‘do you want to go to the dance, with me?’

Veronica let out a small squeak before covering her mouth and feigning interest in the bracelet on Betty’s wrist. Jughead quirked his eyebrow again at the two girls, perplexed by their behaviour.

‘I mean we could laugh at all the crappy music they play and judge the crappy finger food they serve.’ He continued. ‘Then we’ll all come to Pop’s later and enjoy some real food.’

You came back to reality as he mentioned everyone coming back to Pop’s, this wasn’t a cheesy rom-com, Jug was asking you as a _friend_ to go to the Winter Formal because he knew thought you had no one else to go with.

 _Fuck it, I’ll take what I can get._ You thought.

‘Yeah Jug,’ you smiled softly, ‘thanks I’d love to.’

-

You had days, _days,_ to get yourself a dress for the Winter Formal.

Was it impossible? You were beginning to think so.

You dragged Betty and Veronica around every shop you could find in town, each dress they suggested had something you could pick fault with: it was too _long_ , too _short_ , too _pink,_ too _slutty, not s_ lutty enough.

If this was the one chance you’d get to go to a dance with Jughead Jones you at least wanted to look the nicest you _ever_ had. Even if it amounted to nothing you still wanted to try.

You were here, in the final shop, the dress _had_ to be here otherwise you’d be wearing a trash bag.

‘What do you think Jughead is gonna wear?’ Veronica asked as she passed her fingers through the rails of dresses.

‘Oh my God!’ Betty squealed,’ What if he wears a tux? Little Jug in a tux, I thought I’d never live to see that!’

‘Yeah and you probably never will Bets,’ you stated flatly as you rummaged through a separate rail of dresses, ‘Jug’s just gonna wear the same thing he does every day. He told me so himself.’

‘Oh-’ Betty muttered disappointedly.

The dresses in the shop were all assorted by colour, you immediately skipped past all gaudy yellows and oranges. Betty hovered around the baby pinks and blues and Veronica was wildly skimming through the black dresses.

‘Hey guys, we’re looking for a dress for me, you two already have your dresses!’ you sighed exasperatedly. 

‘Well what colour are you looking for then? That might help us.’ Veronica rolled her eyes as she began to hang back up the black dresses she had chosen.

Betty and Veronica had been angels today and you realised you were being really hard work, you’d been out for five hours and you were no closer to finding the perfect dress. All three of you were starving and you had to be honest you couldn’t wait for all of this to be over so you could go to Pop’s and devour the juiciest burger he had to offer.

You had all but given up hope until you noticed the final dress Veronica was about to hang up.

‘Wait!’ You shouted and ran to where she was stood.

You took the dress from her hands; it was black slip dress with a long black mesh overlay, detailed with intrinsic embroidered flowers from the waist down, and it was perfect.

‘I could kiss you V-’ you grinned from ear to ear, ‘but I wouldn’t want Betty to get jealous.’

-

You had agreed with Jug that he would swing by your place at 7 and you’d drive both of you to the school in your dad’s old truck. Betty and Veronica had offered to share the limousine with you but you felt that was taking the whole ‘living out your fantasies’ skit to a different level of extreme. Your truck was a nice simple option. 

It was quarter to the hour and you were ready to secretly fantasise about him turning up to your house _actually_ in a tux like Betty suggested, maybe with a corsage or a rose or something of an equal measure to that kind of cheesiness. Fantasising that at some point Jug would take your hand and you would slow dance next to Betty and Veronica and all the other kids at school. When the time came to go back home and you got out of your truck, he’d lay a sweet kiss on your cheek and tell you that surprisingly he had a really nice time.

The doorbell rang.

Your parents weren’t home tonight, your dad worked at the sheriff’s department and tonight was an unusually busy nights: rowdy teenagers believing they were grown up enough to knock back drinks after prom caused a lot of trouble on nights like these. Your mom was a nurse, she regularly worked night shifts and tonight was no different. She had helped you apply your make-up before she left for shift at six however, her eyes gleamed as you stood at your full length in the long black gown and she kissed your cheek.

With no parents home you descended the stairs to answer the door to your date yourself. What you didn’t expect to see however upon opening the door was Archie Andrews in a black tux.

‘Archie?’ You smiled perplexed.

‘Mo! Hi!’ He smiled but it didn’t reach past his cheeks.

His face was as easy to read as a book, his eyes were filled with pity. His fingers thumbed the black box he held in his hands nervously and you knew what he was going to say before he could even find the words to tell you.

But you didn’t want to believe that _he_ could be this cruel to _you._

‘Where’s Jughead?’ You asked with earnestly.

‘Mo- he, he told me- to-‘

‘Spit it out Archie.’ You shakily demanded.

Archie stood up straight at this and took a deep breath.

‘He said- He’s sorry, something came up but he’s sent _me_ in his place so that you can still enjoy the dance.’

Where once your mouth held a nervous yet excited smile there was now a wobbling lip, and where once your eyes were bright and eager you now felt the tell-tale signs of tears pricking behind them. You wanted to run back upstairs into your bedroom, untie your hair and wipe of your make-up, you felt foolish.

‘A-archie,’ you wavered, ‘it’s really nice of you to com- to come and offer but I suddenly-‘ you choked on the bubbling feeling rises from your chest, ‘suddenly I don’t quite feel up to it.’

You began to close the door but Archie pushed back against it and smiled sadly.

‘Come one Mo, don’t let that jerk ruin your night.’

You scoffed, _jerk_ was a bit of an understatement.

‘Okay, so jerks a bit of an understatement.’ Archie repeated your thoughts back to you and you let out a strangled laugh.

A horn honked at the bottom of your path, you peered over Archie’s shoulder to see a black limousine parked at the bottom outside your house.

‘Oh yeah, I arranged for us to go with B and V. I mean of course that’s if you say yes?’

You sniffled and an unshed tear brushed down your cheek.

‘I don’t know Archie. I- I just- I don’t-,‘ you tried to think of any excuse.

Archie reached for your wrist and opened the black box with a flick of his thumb using his other hand, a yellow corsage proudly presented itself.

‘Ronnie helped me pick it out.’ He smiled. ‘What do you say to us going having a good time? I promise we can dance, we can have some punch providing no one’s spiked it?’

You laughed a watery laugh and nodded your head.

‘Okay,’ you whispered, ‘I guess it could be fun.’

The horn beeped again at the end of the path, Veronica’s face popped out from the sunroof.

‘Are you coming or what?!’ She hollered.

‘She’s coming, give us a second!’ Archie called back.

You heard the distant ‘Woo!’ of Betty in the limousine and you laughed.

You were getting everything you dreamed of you noted when Archie placed the delicate corsage onto your wrist. His large hand gently grasped yours as he lead you down the path to the limousine and it gently pressed against the small of your back as he helped you to slide yourself and your dress into the car. Sure this was all entirely with the wrong person, but like Archie said, you couldn’t let that _jerk_ ruin this for you.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Sure the night hadn’t started out so well but you were enjoying the dance with Archie Andrews. You had to admit it was nice to be the envy of quite a number of girls in the hall as they watched Archie sway with you in time to the music. He had been treating you like a true gentleman all night but despite all of his best efforts to make you forget you couldn’t shake how awful it felt to be stood up by Jughead.

You danced with Archie to a slow song, your head resting on his shoulder. You didn’t know what the deal was with him tonight, why _he_ didn’t have a date. Before Jughead had forced him to take you he was tagging along with Betty and Veronica, you agreed tonight that you were both total losers.

If you hadn’t been so consumed in your own drama you would have been a good friend and asked him, but at the time it didn’t cross your mind. For the past week you had been so invested in the w _hat if’s_ that your dreams had to offer, that you had forgotten the real world was still circling around you. Jason Blossom was still missing. Riverdale wasn’t safe.

‘Is it because of the Jason Blossom case?’ You asked, he knew you were speaking about Jughead.

‘Honestly Mo- I don’t really know, I mean he sounded pretty frantic on the phone when he asked me if I would take his place. I mean it probably is knowing Jug.’ Archie span you in circles slowly, one of his hands in yours and the other on the small of your back, your spare hand rested lightly on his chest fiddling absentmindedly with his tie.

‘Do you think I’m stupid?’ Your question was timid, you were scared of an honest answer but thank god Archie didn’t provide one.

‘No, you’re not stupid Mo-‘ He sighed, ‘But maybe-‘, he trailed off.

‘Maybe what?’

Archie’s warm brown eyes looked into yours, he didn’t want to hit you whilst you were down.

‘This was his last chance really wasn’t it? This was the _moment_ where if anything _was_ going to happen it would.’ You shakily answered your own question, the tears threatening to prick at the back of your eyes again.

Archie sighed and nestled your head under his chin, hiding your face from those around you, his hand on your back pressed firmly against you as he comforted your tiny muffled sobs.

-

Betty and Veronica sat side by side on the bleachers in the hall, their pinkie fingers entwined, drinking punch out of solo cups. They watched on as Mo and Archie span in slow circles sharing secret hushed words.

‘If she didn’t look so broken she’d look glamorous.’ Veronica stated taking a sip out of her cup.

‘I can’t believe the _nerve_ of him. You know, I really thought he was coming to terms with how he felt for her. It was getting so obvious the way he stared at her when she wasn’t looking.’ Betty huffed out a breath of hot air in annoyance.

‘Yeah those puppy dog eyes were starting to get old.’ Ronnie added.

‘And you know what’s worse, V?’

Veronica titled her head at Betty in a questioning motion.

‘Given time she’ll probably forgive him, like each time before.  And he’ll keep playing the same game, like he’s not interested but she’ll never know that he is. And he’ll just keep breaking her heart every day, and that just isn’t fair.’

‘What are you suggesting Betty Cooper?’ Veronica slid her body across the cool wood of the bleachers, closing the gap between herself and Bets, a sly smile graced her face.

‘Jughead Jones needs to realise how lucky he is to have the love of a good woman.’

Betty Cooper opened up her small pink clutch bag and took out her phone, her dainty fingers typed out a quick message and off she sent it into the stratosphere.

_Meet us all at Pop’s after you’ve done whatever it is you’re doing, there’ll be a burger waiting for you. B x_

-

Jughead was already sat in the usual booth when the two girls arrived, they shared equally mischievous glances before gliding over to the booth and sitting opposite him.

‘First things first,’ he started before their butts had even reached the leather, ‘my burger. Then, I’ll tell you all the dirt I found out about July 4th.’

‘Oh how was the dance girls?’ Veronica asked Betty sarcastically.

Jughead’s eyes narrowed.

‘Yeah we had a great time, thanks for asking Jug.’ Betty mumbled with sarcasm, her eyes raking over the menu as if she hadn’t eaten here nearly every single day for the past five years.

‘Okay so I’m sensing you’re annoyed,’ Jughead sighed, ‘so how was it? And where’s Archie and Mo? Did she have a good time?’

Veronica stifled back a giggle and a glanced a Betty who was biting her lip attempting to hold back a smile.

‘What?’ Jughead pushed angrily, ‘There’s something you’re not telling me.’

‘It’s nothing, Juggie!’ Betty smiled gleefully, ‘It’s just maybe the change of plans worked out for the best. You got some dirt on the Jason Blossom case and Archie and Mo had a real nice time! I mean all those decorations were _super_ romantic, right Ronnie?’ Betty gazed dreamily into her girlfriends eyes.

‘Yeah,’ sighed Veronica rubbing her nose against Betty’s, ‘It was enough to make anyone go gooey-eyed; all the music and the dim lights…’

Jughead’s jaw was set in stone, his back teeth grinding back and forth with every little detail the girls revealed. Archie had gotten Mo a corsage. Betty and Veronica spiked the punch. Archie and Mo had danced all night. Betty and Veronica had requested Spice Girls to be played. Archie and Mo had been making heart-eyes with each other all night. Archie and Mo. Archie and Mo. _Archie and Mo._

‘Yeah Archie was just gonna go and drop Mo off in the limousine, but I heard her parents aren’t home so-‘

Jughead slammed his hands on the table cutting off whatever the end of Veronica’s sentence was going to be.

Through gritted teeth, he growled, ‘Stop it.’

A pair of cold blue eyes and stony black eyes stared back into the pair that were seeing red. Veronica’s tongue rolled over her teeth, contemplating her next words until the bell of diner door distracted her.

‘Shit.’ Betty hissed to Veronica. This was not part of the plan.

Due to the cue that the girls had given him Jughead spun his head around to look at who had walked through the door.

It was Archie and Mo with their arms linked, quietly laughing between themselves as they sat down at a separate booth, clearly not noticing their three friends sat metres away.

Jughead span himself back around and slumped far down into the booth, his breathing was a low and his vision became cloudy. Veronica snapped her fingers in front of his face and swallowed deeply. Jughead was unresponsive.

‘Betty I think we broke him. Jug are you okay?’

Jughead’s breathing continued to become shallower and more rapid.

‘Juggie?’ Betty tentatively asked, she reached a hand out for his arms.

His body jolted back into reality and he began to gather his things.

‘I’m fine.’ He muttered so quietly it was almost inaudible.

He swung his body out of the booth and sprinted to the diner doors, passing Archie and Mo on the way.

‘Jug!’ Archie stood up and called out to him, but he was already out of the diner and too far out sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Jughead was sat on Archie’s front porch step waiting in the dark for him to finally arrive home. Archie could almost anticipate Jughead’s next moves.

Before he was even half way up the path to his house Jughead had sprung into action, charging at Archie with an anger he’d never quite seen him exhibit. Jughead pushed at Archie chest repeatedly, aiming to punch his face but Archie dodged his fists easily.

‘ _You fucking jerk!’_ Jughead’s words were filled with venom. ‘ _You dick!’_ He berated.

‘Woah, woah, woah!’ Archie pushed Jughead back with some serious strength, causing the boy to stumble. ‘ _I’m_ the jerk?! Are you _fucking_ kidding me, Jug?!’ Archie shouted in a whisper, aware of how late it was in the residential neighbourhood.

Jughead’s breathing was laboured as he moved closer to Archie, his finger jabbed Archie’s chest.

‘You knew.’ He snarled. ‘And you still went for it.’ Jughead again began to attack Archie.

Deciding he’d had enough of Jughead’s bullshit for one night, Archie chose to give back as good as he got. Soon the boys were tackling each other to the ground, dealing punches to the other wherever they could. Jughead’s fists repeatedly came into contact with Archie stomach but once or twice they got good contact with his face. Archie remembering the strength he possessed in comparison to the leaner boy tried not to deal too many hard blows but by no means did Archie go easy on him.

It was only when he heard the sickening crack, as his fist met Jughead’s face, that he realised it was getting out hand and he manoeuvred his way around Jughead pinning the smaller boy to the ground, ceasing the fire of punches. Jughead’s face lay against the cool stone of the pavement and he let out sharp breaths from his mouth, his nose clearly broken. 

‘What the _fuck_ man?’ Archie Andrews sighed exasperatedly.

‘Mo-’ Jughead whimpered as the adrenaline began to wear off, blood pooled from his nose and onto the concrete. Archie eased out of the hold that he had on Jughead and stood a couple of steps back. Jughead remained lying on the floor taking deep breathes through his mouth to compensate for his nose.

‘Jug-’ Archie kicked a pebble on the path and slowly walked over to help his friend up, ‘I just did what you asked me to.’ He held out his hand for Jughead but the boy ignored it and continued to stare blankly ahead.

Archie made his way over to the steps of his porch and sat down.

‘You asked me to make sure that she had a good night…’

‘I didn’t ask you to sweep her off her feet and make her fall for you.’ He spat, his broken nose made his words sound muffled.

Archie let out an honest laugh of disbelief.

‘What?!’ He asked incredulously.

‘You heard what I said.’

‘Jug-’ Archie shook his head in disbelief, ‘Oh Jug- What did Betty and Veronica say happened?’

Jughead sat up from the floor, some of the blood had dried on his cheek. He stared at Archie, realising all too late that it had been a little trick. He looked up at the bedroom window of Archie’s next door neighbour and noticed the two girls peeking between the curtains. As he caught their gaze the curtains fell shut.

He stumbled to his feet and gathered himself to his full height. He began to make his way down the path and into the night. Archie glanced up to Betty Cooper’s window and noticed both girls were again peering out of it, they watched as the raven-haired boy limped down the street.

-

After seeing Jughead storm out from the diner the easy feeling that had settled upon you by the end of the night suddenly disappeared. Your heart felt as if it had dropped into your stomach at the sight of him, how could he have the nerve to show up at the diner after what he did?

The burger that you had been so desperately craving no longer seemed all that appetising.

You craved home now. You craved your bed and your pyjamas. You craved for a place where you could finally break your heart into two and let it all spill out into a vast and empty space.

You couldn’t believe that your own stupid imagination had caused you this much pain. You were honestly expecting so little of him but receiving nothing only served to magnify how crazy stupid fantasies were.

You had made a fool of yourself. Those little touches, smiles and inside jokes. They meant nothing at the end of the day and you had only been kidding yourself by believing they could. You always thought the dull pain that ached in your chest was worth it for your friendship with Jughead Jones; but what was worth it to you appeared worthless to him.

Your emotions began to bubble to the surface as your brain crashed back down into the sad reality that was your life.

‘Arch- I wanna go home.’ You whispered to him with fragility.

He took your hand and helped you from the booth, at the same time he signalled Ronnie and Bets over.

‘Did you come in your car to the diner, Ronnie?’ Archie asked and she nodded in confirmation, ‘Okay well can you see that Mo gets home safely? I’m gonna go and follow him and see what his deal is.’

The girls both bit their lips sheepishly but nodded in agreement that they would take you home.

-

The car ride home was silent. You wish you had the energy to ask if Jug had even asked about you whilst he was at the diner but you were emotionally and physically drained.

As the car pulled up to your house you left with barely a thanks and slowly trudged up to your front porch. The lights were still off which meant neither of your parents were home yet and usually you hated sleeping before they got home but tonight you felt eternally grateful.

You carried yourself up to the steps to your room, thinking about how gleeful you felt travelling down them earlier that night. You shook your head, disappointed in your own mind for conjuring up those thoughts again.

You had barely reached your bedroom door before the tears began to leak from the corner of your eyes. You kicked your comfiest pair of black heels off your feet and into the corner of your room and collapsed onto your bed. Your intentions of changing into your pyjamas and wiping of the ludicrous amount of make-up still on your face became false dreams as your face hit the cool material of your pillow. Your aching bones sank into your mattress and you curled your body around an old stuffed teddy that had taken pride of place on your bed for the past ten years.

Tonight was a night that you would never live down. There were no more certainties to your future with Jughead Jones. In the past you felt you couldn’t hate him for being so inherently Jughead but now you felt that he couldn’t blame you if you did.

As the last of your tears soaked into your pillow slumber began to claim you as its own.  

-

The light shone into your bedroom from the window and onto your face as the early morning sun began to rise.

‘Urgh!’ You groaned, raising one arm to block the sun from your face as you adjusted to the fact that a new day had begun. Your eyes stung and the bright sun did nothing to help.

With a slow motion you uncovered your eyes to look at your attire, your eyes confirmed that last night was not some wicked nightmare, you had been stood up by Jughead and had instead gone to the Winter Formal with Archie Andrews whom Jughead had chosen as his replacement. The night was a mixture of melancholy smiles and heartbreak.

You began to climb from your bed and detangled yourself from a dress that you never wanted to see again. You pulled it over your head and threw it into the same corner as your abandoned shoes. You proceeded to choose fresh underwear and threw together an outfit consisting of pale blue ripped skinny jeans and a dark green hoodie. Today was Saturday which meant nobody needed to see you in your Gollum-like, heartbroken state and you could hopefully mend your broken heart over the weekend by watching anything _but_ cheesy John Hughes movies. You planned to raid the pantry of all of its chocolate and chips and just generally wallow in your own self-pity until Monday came back around, when unfortunately you would have to face the harsh music of your new life.

Before you could begin with your journey to the pity party you searched around for your bag, knowing it had your phone it. You were certain that after last both Betty and Veronica would be concerned about you. You had barely said two words to them in the car as they drove you home, you anticipated a bombardment of text messages and phone calls from them. The sooner you could send them both a quick text to confirm you were alive and that you would see them on Monday at school, the sooner you could browse Netflix for some brain-washing goodness.

You flipped your bed covers upside-down, inside-out, you searched underneath your bed and down the side of the bed that met with the wall but it was nowhere to be seen.

A knock erupted from the door.

‘Honey are you awake?’ Your mom called, ‘Betty’s downstairs she has your purse and asked could she speak with you.’

Of course, that explained it, you had left your bag in Veronica’s car last night in your dazed state.

‘Yeah,’ you replied your voice cut with a hoarseness, ‘I’m coming mom.’

You opened the door to find your mom standing there, she appeared concerned and leant the back of her hand against your forehead.

‘Are you okay honey, you sound a little sick?’

‘I’m fine mom, maybe I just sang a little hard last night or something?’ You smiled at her but it was anything but genuine.

You ran down the staircase taking two steps at a time to find a pristine looking Betty Cooper standing at the bottom of them. In her hands she held your small gold purse which she offered to you with a careful smile. You snatched your phone out of the purse, placed it in your back pocket and left your purse on the stairs. Betty spoke before you could.

‘I need to tell you about something, Mo. Something that Ronnie and I did and now we kinda regret it.’ She bit her lip in that classic Betty Cooper way, she seemed to be anxious, like _really_ anxious.

You raised your eyebrow, was she going to tell you something freaky? You didn’t think you were ready for that kind information regarding her and Ronnie.

‘Can we maybe, like, go for a walk?’

You sighed, ‘Yeah, okay, give me a minute to put on some sneakers.’


	4. Chapter 4

‘Can we walk to Pop’s?’ Betty asked as you began to walk down the path of your neighbourhood. She was picking the lilac nail polish off from her nails, studying them with a deep focus.

‘Yeah, sure.’ Your voice was flat, ‘Can you start telling me whilst we walk over?’

Betty hummed and nodded. She began to tell you how she and Veronica felt about the whole situation that had transpired last night. She said that what Jug had done to you was completely unacceptable, that just because he was Jughead Jones it did _not_ mean he could treat people like total trash. Her words stung but they were same words you had spoken to yourself, you wonder exactly where she was going with her tale.

She went on to tell you that she had tricked Jughead into meeting her and Veronica at the diner with the promise of a burger and with the incentive that it would be _all_ of you meeting up. You could tell that the worst of Betty’s story was still yet to become and as if on cue she began to fall quiet.

You felt a nervous bubble of anticipation forming in your stomach, you stopped in your tracks and stared a Betty who was nervously pulling at the sleeve of her jumper. What could Betty have done to Jughead that caused him to storm out of the diner like he did last night?

‘Betty-’ you asked firmly, ‘what did you do?’

The blonde girl looked at you - like a deer caught in the headlights.

‘Betty.’ You demanded.

The doe-eyed girl looked into your eyes timidly. She started to tell you quietly exactly what _they_ had both told Jughead; with each word she said your brows knitted further and further together in anger.

‘We didn’t expect him to get so angry.’ Betty mumbled to the floor.

You had reached your destination at Pop’s; as you walked through the door you noticed it was unusually quiet for a mid-morning Saturday. And as you both sat down in your usual booth you couldn’t say that you were particularly hungry.

‘Did Archie find him?’ you murmured. You hated that after everything that asshole had done to you that you were _still_ concerned for him.

Betty scoffed, ‘Yeah he found him alright. They got into a bit of a fight.’

‘What?’ You asked in disbelief.

Betty then explained the scuffle she and Ronnie had watched from her bedroom window. She said Jughead had been waiting for him and that when Archie got home he started shouting something but they couldn’t hear what; eventually the guys started throwing punches at each other until it looked like Archie had broken Jughead’s nose.

 _Good._ You thought bitterly, he deserved to feel some pain.

‘But then-’ The blonde girl began to get quiet again, she distracted herself by playing with the salt-shaker.

‘Spit it out, Betty.’ You weren’t in any mood to be tiptoed around with today.

‘Okay, so Jughead hasn’t been seen since last night. We’ve tried texting him and ringing him but he just won’t answer.’ Betty spoke rapidly. ‘Mo, it’s probably nothing to worry about but we’re just a little concerned. I mean what with the whole Jaso-’

The incessant ringing of the phone in your back pocket cut Betty off. A backlog of texts seemed to be pouring into your phone as it ‘dinged’ continuously. You pulled the phone from your pocket and stared at the screen, messages upon messages were flashing up: _Kevin, Veronica, Kevin, Kevin, Archie, Veronica, Veronica, Archie, Kevin_ again and again.

You studied your phone curiously, your index finger slid across the screen to open the messages.

Kevin: _Jason’s body. I found it. By the lake._

Veronica: _Has Kevin texted you? He’s found Jason’s body, like what the hell? X_

Kevin: _You’ve got to come down here._

Kevin: _He was shot._

Archie: _Did Kevin text you too?_ _Meet me by the lake xx_

Veronica: _Is Betty with you? She’s not answering._

Veronica: _Hellooooooooooo???? x_

The messages went on and on and they were still pouring in, you handed your phone to Betty.

‘He’ll probably be there.’ The anxiety that had effervesced within you now evaporated, you knew without a doubt that he would be by the lake studying the morbid discovery that had washed up onto the bank. Although you were still a tiny bit concerned that Betty and Veronica had managed to make him so angry in the first place.

You noticed that Betty had begun to raise herself out of the booth.

‘We’ve gotta go!’ She said frantically, handing your phone back to you.

‘You can go, Bets,’ you sighed, ‘but I just don’t feel up to seeing a dead body today.’

Betty huffed and stomped her foot.

‘That only works on V.’ you pointed out to her, thoroughly unimpressed.

‘C’mon M, if it’s because _he’ll_ be there, then I’m sure Archie won’t mind threatening him with another punch if you want him to stay away.’ She smiled softly and held out her hand to you. Betty Cooper used her sunny disposition to win you over once more.

‘Okay, let’s go ask my Dad if I can use his truck.’

-

It seemed like the whole town was down at the lake by the time you and Betty got there. You spotted on the far right hand side of the lake Veronica and Archie who watching Kevin speak to his dad. Your dad was also down there, observing the body of the _very_ dead Jason Blossom, you wondered if your mom knew what had happened down here before you left the house this morning. Veronica suddenly caught sight of Betty and began storming up the incline to meet you both, Archie spun around and smiled solemnly at you.

‘Betty Cooper, do you know what a mobile phone is?!’ Ronnie berated her girlfriend. ‘I have been worried sick-’

Betty grabbed Ron by the shoulders and smiled sweetly, ‘Ronnie, you knew I was going over to Mona’s, stop being so dramatic.’ She sighed and rubbed her hands down the brunette’s arms in a soothing motion.

Archie began to make his way up the incline to the three of you, his hands wedged firmly into his pockets.

‘I think Kevin’s gonna be finished up soon,’ he announced and the girls turned to face him, ‘we could all head back to mine, kick back and watch some movies?’ He suggested and the two girls hummed in agreement.

Your eyes were too busy scanning the crowds of people to focus on the redhead’s words. You had to make sure that your suspicions were correct, that he _was_ here, just for your peace of mind.

‘He was here,’ Archie sighed, as if reading your mind.

Your head snapped up to his face and red blush began to creep from your neck to your cheeks, you must have seemed totally desperate.

‘He was pretty beat up, which was my fault,’ Archie continued, ‘But he was here and alive, if that’s what you was wondering.’

You nodded timidly and looked down at the black dead leaves under your feet.

‘Okay guys, get me out of here!’ Kevin hollered as he bundled up the leafy slope, the mourners at the bottom of the lake looked up with distaste. ‘That was absolutely mortifying.’

‘I can’t even imagine what it must be like to find a dead body.’ Betty hushed as she linked one arm through Kevin’s and the other through Ronnie’s.

‘Oh god, that bit was a walk in the park’ he rolled his eyes, ‘try explaining to your dad why you were with Moose Mason at twelve o’clock on a Friday night down by the river!’

‘Why you were with Moose Mason at twelve o’clock on a Friday night down by the river?’ Veronica sniggered.

‘Oh honey, you don’t wanna know.’ Kevin smirked.

As the five of you made your way back up to the carpark Archie slung one of his free arms around your shoulders and smiled down at you. His warm brown eyes stared back into yours.

‘It’s gonna be okay.’ He muttered quietly, just to you, and when he smiled like that you were inclined to agree.


	5. Chapter 5

He knew why they had done what they did.

To teach him a lesson: that it wasn’t nice to mess around with people’s feelings, especially people you actually cared about.

Jughead knew that his relationship with Mona was different to his relationships with Betty, Veronica, and _even_ Archie. He had known for some time that Mo had some kind of crush on him and he wished she could have been like Betty or Veronica. He questioned why it seemed impossible for a girl and guy to simply be friends without strange and complicated feelings getting in the way.

 _Why did she have to ruin a good thing?_ He thought to himself, as he shuffled away from Archie Andrews’ house.

They worked well as friends: she always knew the right time to place a hilarious sarcastic comment- usually when he was drinking so the liquid would burst from his nose. She was always on hand for him to vent when his creative streak ran dry- sometimes she’d offer one of the best one-liners she could think of and suddenly the pool would flood in again. She never seemed to mind if he stole a fry or better yet an entire burger off her plate and she’d do anything he asked with barely even a question as to why.

And now that he was beginning to think about it, _what did he even bring to the friendship?_

Jughead raised a tentative hand up towards his nose, the brush of his fingers caused a hot pain to erupt from the bone and he groaned quietly in agony. He just hoped the break wasn’t bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, there’s no way he could afford to go there and get his nose reset. In the past he would have considered allowing Mo’s mom to take a look at it but now that option seemed highly improbable. He imagined Mo would probably see his pain as a fitting punishment for his actions tonight but Jughead begged to disagree; the universe could have dealt him a much bigger blow than anything Archie Andrews could throw at him and it still wouldn’t be punishment enough.

He felt shitty. More than shitty. What’s the shittiest you could possibly feel? That’s how Jughead Jones felt.  And if Mo felt anywhere near as shitty as he did then that would only make him feel shittier.

He couldn’t even develop a decent enough excuse as to why he had stood up Mo tonight. _A lead on the Jason Bloom case?_ Pathetic. He was chicken shit and he knew it. Archie knew it too. _And_ Betty _and_ Veronica.

He couldn’t claim innocence that in the past he had no idea what he was doing to her. When he let out a sarcastic quip it was for her benefit, to see her smile mischievously over her milkshake at Pop’s. Every time he stole a fry from her plate it was so that she’d playfully fight him and feign annoyance. He’d rest his head on her shoulder in Pop’s, when the writing well had dried up and his eyes were beginning to sting, he’d hear her breathing become shallower and he knew what it meant.

When he’d ask her to go to the dance with him he saw the light shining behind her eyes. He couldn’t miss the soft smile that graced her lips as they made plans in the following days, she was trying not to give away how much it meant to her but he knew her better than that.

Being in that situation though, at the dance with her in that dress, it scared the ever living shit out of him.

Being so close to her, feeling her breath on his neck as he did the gentlemanly thing and offered her a dance because _god_ did she deserve that, it terrified him.

Looking into her eyes as she told him what a lovely night she had with him and all he could think about was placing a kiss on her cheek, he couldn’t do it.

That wasn’t him. He wished it was. For _her_ he wished it was but he couldn’t offer her those things. 

That’s why he sent Archie, the knight in shining armour, _too_ shiny it seemed.

If there was ever a last chance for Jug to act on his wildest dreams it was last night; but rather than play that part he let the lead girl fall into the arms of another man. A better man.

-

Jughead didn’t return back to his home that night at the drive-in, he spent the night wandering the streets of Riverdale until a text from a certain Kevin Keller caught his attention.

As his phone buzzed in his pocket he tried his hardest not to hope that it was Mo, he knew that if he did he would be sadly mistaken.

The information contained in the text however was just enough to distract him from crushing thought that maybe he’d never receive a text from her again.

Kevin: _Jug, you up? You’ve got to come down to the lake, I’ve found Jason’s body. Quick before my dad gets here._

With that information Jughead sprinted through the street and towards Riverdale Lake, it was a hard feat considering he could only breathe through his mouth, but he had to see this with his own eyes.

-

Jughead managed to spend a few minutes looking down at the body of Jason Bloom, water-bloated and decaying with a bullet-hole straight through his forehead, before long he could hear Sheriff Keller and the rest of squad making their way through the leaf terrain.

Jughead made the smart move to hide out of sight; he wasn’t supposed to be here and looking the way he did right now, with a blood stained face and clothes, it could raise some questions from the cops.

-

As the day began to break and Kevin’s and Moose’s texts got read by their friends, and their friends-friends, and their friends-friends-friends, more people began to turn up to the clearing at the lake and Jughead revealed himself from his hiding spot.

From across the way he spotted Archie, standing alone, their eyes caught each other and Jughead wasn’t sure how he looked but Archie appeared concerned for him. He nodded his head in a way that suggested he wanted Jughead to come over; Jughead was considering it until a small raven-haired girl dressed in black strolled up from behind him and linked her arm through his.

Archie he could forgive, but Veronica and Betty? Well that was going to take some time.

Jughead slunk off into the darkness of the trees and out of sight of the red-haired boy and brown-haired girl. Jughead watched as Archie tried the scan the crowds, but to no avail, he couldn’t see his friend. Jug continued to watch from behind the leafy green as Veronica marched up to Betty, she was speaking animatedly but that wasn’t Jughead’s focus. Standing just behind Betty was Mo, she was wearing his green hoodie -one that he’d left at her house months ago and she swore she couldn’t find it.

His eyes were transfixed on her, her anxious face scanning the crowd, _was she looking for him?_

He barely noticed the other people surrounding her until they were all turning to leave. He watched as Betty, Veronica and Kevin linked their arms together. His eyes flickered back to Mo, just in time to witness Archie sling his arm around her shoulder and look at her warmly, he whispered something into her ear and she smiled.

Jughead’s heart dropped. 


End file.
